Teresa Delgado, Ph.D.

Articulating a Constructive Vision

Iona professor Dr. Teresa Delgado was invited to speak at the College of Saint Benedict | St. John’s University on “Reimagining Decolonial Futures: Puerto Rico, God-Talk and Seeking the Common Good.” The lecture took place during the annual Koch Chair in Catholic Thought and Culture lecture on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. Through her distinguished career, she has been passionate about articulating a constructive vision through the experiences of marginalized people.

Dr. Delgado’s lecture demonstrated how a similar methodology can be applied to construct a decolonial theology that draws from Roman Catholic foundations of the common good and Puerto Rican creative writers. She engaged the literature of Puerto Rican creative writers Esmeralda Santiago, Pedro Juan Soto and Rosario Ferré to construct a theological vision centered on freedom and the pursuit of the common good.

This lecture follows up on her latest book, “A Puerto Rican Decolonial Theology: Prophesy Freedom.” She has also published on issues such as constructive theology, diversity in higher education, transformational pedagogies, and ethics and justice for racial, ethnic and sexual minorities.

Dr. Delgado also serves as president of the Board of Directors for the Westchester People’s Action Coalition Foundation, is on the board of the Hispanic Theological Initiative, and is a member of the mentoring consortium of the Forum for Theological Exploration.